PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council will meet on Tuesday, May 13, to vote on whether to grant final approval to Deepwater Wind LLC’s proposed wind farm project.

Earlier this month, the CRMC’s Ocean Special Area Management subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend approval of the 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm, on the condition that the developer meet 14 stipulations, including the delay of National Grid’s work on the underwater portion of the cable transmission system until Deepwater Wind has verified that construction has begun on the foundation structures that will support the turbines.

The CRMC may vote to accept the subcommittee’s recommendation, reject it, send it back for further consideration or recommend changes to the plan.

If the CRMC approves Deepwater’s proposal, the R.I. Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still need to sign off on the project before construction can officially begin.

Deepwater Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski has said previously that he expects to begin local construction on the project in early 2015, with a target operational date of late 2015 or early 2016. The Block Island Wind Farm will consist of five 6-megawatt turbine generators, a submarine cable interconnecting the five turbines, and an underwater transmission cable connecting the turbines to a substation on Block Island, as well as an underwater connection of Block Island to the electricity grid on the mainland.

The CRMC meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on May 13 in the Administrative Building at One Capitol Hill in Providence. For more information, visit www.crmc.ri.gov or call (401) 783-3370.

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